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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
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Recent exploration has shown New Zealand to be an energy-rich country, except for liquid fuels. Less than one-third of the hydroelectrical and one-sixth of the geothermal potential are utilized, subbituminous coal reserves will suffice for a century or more, and very large lignite resources have been located.
The major Maui offshore gas-condensate field, found in 1969, required the commitment of large electrical generation load for its initial development. That expected load diminished, however, so that when the government established the Liquid Fuels Trust Board in 1978, to advise it on methods for reducing New Zealand's dependence on imported petroleum, the gas was
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the most readily available raw material.
The Board reported on the merits of alternative methods of increasing gas usage, especially as a fuel, to yield additional condensate to the liquid fuels system. After a year's detailed investigation on the merits of available alternative technologies, the Board recommended, and the government approved, a major gas to gasoline via methanol development, using the first commercial plant to use the Mobil process.
The Board subsequently recommended against introducing low-methanol petrol blends (M15), principally because of distributional problems.
New Zealand should be about 50% self-sufficient in liquid fuels by 1986. Currently the Board is investigating the possibilities of either increasing that level or producing liquid fuel in the post-gas era. Several options are being considered--high methol blends, potential ethanol-production from biomass, and options for major liquid fuels production from lignite, or from New Zealand's fast-grown wood.
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